190 BUTTERFLIES. 



There he arriving, round about doth fly 

 From bed to bed, from one to other border, 



And takes survey, with curious busyeye, 

 Of every flower and herb there set in order ; 



Now this, now that, he tasteth tenderly, 

 Yet none of them he rudely doth disorder, 



Ne with his feet their silken leaves deface, 



But pastures on the pleasures of each place. 



And evermore, with most variety 



And change of sweetness (for all change is 

 sweet). 

 He casts his glutton sense to satisfy ; 



Now, sucking of the sap of herb most meet, 

 Or of the dew which yet on them does lie, 



Now in the same bathing his tender feet ; 

 And then he percheth on some bank thereby, 

 To weather him, and his moist wings to dry. 



Spenser. 



The beauty of the Butterfly, the splen- 

 dour and astonishing variety of its colours, 

 its elegant form, its sprightly air, with its 

 roving and fluttering life, all unite to capti- 

 vate the least observant eye. These insects 

 indeed seem to vie with each other in beauty 

 of tints and elegance of shape. The Butter- 

 flies of China, and particularly those of 



